Falling Skies: Everybody Has Their Reasons

This week’s episode of Falling Skies, “Everybody Has Their Reasons,” was reminiscent of the ending of season two, only far harsher. Unfortunately, while it was a good episode, I think it fell short of really bridging toward the finale in a strong way.

The 2nd Mass finally reaches the outskirts of the naval base near Fayetteville. It is heavily fortified and garrisoned, and after a scuffle, Dan, Tom, and Hal are introduced to the commandant on the scene, a woman by the name of Captain Katie Marshall. Lo and behold, she and Colonel Dan Weaver have history together, served together, and have more than suppressed sexual tension. I personally found this to be an iteration of an overused trope, but that is one of the things that Falling Skies is known for. Marshall commands a unit called the 14th Virginia, and invites the 2nd Mass onto the base.

Things seem amicable at first as the 2nd Mass acclimates itself to the base and the people on it. Drinking parties are held. Here we have the first similarity to Charleston in the second season – things start nicely.

The second similarity is made clear when it was soon discovered that the 14th does not go out and engage the Espheni. Instead, they focus on “human collaborators.”

This ire quickly turns to the Mason family, which have had extensive contact with the Espheni (as well as the Volm) and their technology. Paranoia (or so it seems) reigns. Ben is confronted by three armed men and goes postal on them, showing superhuman feats of strength and speed in the process. He is eventually caught off guard and tased in the back, knocked unconscious in the process.

This is soon going to get a lot more painful.

Ben is taken to the brig, and the asshole that knocked him out yanks out one of the spikes in his spine with a wrench. He got some just desserts afterwards, as the spike, still living, tore wounds in his face. Still, it was a ghastly display, though for the purposes of network TV, not displayed in its entirety.

After this, the members of the 2nd Mass are quickly rounded up, except for Weaver. Asshole seemed to try to get freaky with Isabella and then Maggie, who quickly knocked him flat with a hurricanrana…or a frakensteiner, to not upset Big Poppa Pump.

Asshole will soon be hurricanrana’ed.

While Asshole was knocked flat and Maggie and co. tried to evade the guards, Dan sent Matt out in a motorcycle to call for help from Cochise and Dingaan, who are busy trying to figure out the Espheni Shadow Plane device.

First, it turns out, they need to move it, but every time one of them touches it, they’re transported to the Shadow Plane and they get their minds blown, literally. Eventually, Dingaan figures out that he can connect a piece of a mech to the electronics underneath the device while moving it out with a pulley. Presto. …Now what? Don’t know yet.

It also seems that all of the Volm, except Cochise, have left. Way to be uncool.

Captain Marshall eventually decides to court marshal Tom, Ben, and Hal Mason. It’s a kangaroo court of the first order, and she eventually finds them guilty of collaborating with the enemy and sentences them to death. We know Tom cannot die, so he obviously won’t be killed by what looks to be a firing squad next week, but it has been leaked that a major character is going to be killed. Wonder who it’s going to be – and how? It might not be next week.

At the very end of the episode, we see…an Overlord, standing on the grounds of the base, looking content. He certainly didn’t seem like he feared for his safety.

I had wondered how it was possible that a major military installation like this base was still standing, when we clearly knew from the very first episode of Falling Skies that all of the military bases were wiped out in the initial invasion. Unlike the compound at Charleston, this place is above ground and easily visible. Could it be that the 14th are the real human collaborators and that this is all an Espheni front? Certainly, and it would make things interesting.

Overall, I liked this episode. As a stand-alone, it was pretty good. The 14th’s personnel played the part of dicks perfectly and the possible collaboration with the Espheni was intriguing. Still, I must rate “Everybody Has Their Reasons” a…

6/10 – Passable

If I were judging it on its own merits, “Everybody Has Their Reasons” would get a higher mark, but unfortunately I don’t think it picks up the pace toward setting up the finale very well. I still think the season, which started very strongly, is lagging too long.

We’ll see what happens next week.

Some things of note in this episode:

– Anne using maggots to treat a wound. The base has tons of military supplies but no medical ones, go figure. The scene reminded me of the beginning of Sharpe’s Eagle.

– Why did the Volm suddenly disappear just before the supposed final battle in Washington?

– This episode was, I thought, great satire for the increasing militarization of life in America.

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